‘Screwed’: Consumers to wear cost of RBA card surcharge ban but central bank insists it won’t be inflationary
Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association chief executive Wes Lambert said while he appreciated the RBA was working to reduce merchant fees, its proposal added to small businesses’ expenses.
“(Businesses) who have always passed on the merchant fee directly to consumers, so therefore never had a merchant fee expense on their (income statement), will either be forced to absorb those new merchant fees . . . or they’ll have to pass those additional expenses that they’ve never had before onto their consumers in the form of increased menu prices,” he said.
“Consumers will end up getting screwed . . . consumers will pay more than $1.2b in increased menu prices.
“The RBA is sounding like a used-car salesman (by) trying to sell us a piece of junk as a brand new car.”
Guess who’s unhappy about the surcharge ban? Cafes and retailers
Wes Lambert, the chief executive of the Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association, which represents many of the country’s hospitality venues, said there was no way that the RBA’s proposal would save consumers the $1.2 billion that the central bank had suggested on Tuesday.
“They’re kidding themselves,” he said, noting restaurants will still have to pass on other fees to consumers through higher menu prices. More than 80 per cent of cafes and restaurants pass on fees paid for credit and debit card payment services to consumers in full through surcharging.
“If the merchant cannot pass on any merchant fees to the consumer, what will the merchant fee have to be to that business for it not to have more expenses? Zero. Is the RBA suggesting that they will be zero? No,” he said.
RBA reveals major push to ban all card surcharges costing Aussies $1.2 billion a year
The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association’s chief executive Wes Lambert warned the proposal would drive up menu prices.
“No matter how low merchant fees go based on the RBA’s intention to save businesses $1.2 billion, with no surcharging, businesses who previously paid net $0 in merchant fees, will now be faced with the bill,” he said.
Card payment surcharges should be banned for debit and credit payments, RBA says
But the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association’s chief executive, Wes Lambert, said the proposal would drive up menu prices across the hospitality industry.
“Who the hell does the RBA think will bear the cost of this ridiculous decision? First, merchants, and then customers,” Lambert said.
Hospitality industry pushes back on Sydney gas ban over restaurant concerns
Sydney’s hospitality sector has voiced strong opposition to a new City of Sydney Council policy restricting gas use in new developments, warning the move could drive restaurateurs out of the city and increase operational costs.
Not cooking with gas: Hospitality industry reacts to council gas ban
Businesses are pleading for Premier Chris Minns to fight back against the City of Sydney’s anti-gas crusade, fearing it could devastate the city’s prized restaurant industry.
Annual wage review decision made to increase minimum wage for 2.6 million workers from July 1
The Australian Restaurant & Café Association said the wage hike would ultimately mean higher prices for customers.
“This wage increase is disconnected from the economic reality facing restaurants and cafés across Australia,” said CEO Wes Lambert.
“Inflation is moderating, productivity is in decline, and venues are barely breaking even – yet they’ve just been handed another cost increase they simply cannot absorb.
“Wage hikes without productivity growth are unsustainable. This will force venues to raise prices at a time when customers are already pulling back.”
Thank you, Donald Trump, you’ll probably give us another rate cut!
While we know the Government has backed a rise bigger than 2.4%, which is around the inflation rate, it hasn’t told us what it wants. On the other side, the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association supports a minimum wage rise of 2%, which the ACTU says would mean a real wage cut for workers on the minimum wage.
The power of music in hospitality
Australian music licensing organisation OneMusic collects valuable insights from successful brands such as Young Henrys, industry experts and partners like Fine Food and the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association. As well as issuing licences to play music in hospitality spaces, it has a selection of in-depth and informative resources on how using music can improve the consumer experience.
Tap and no? The card surcharges that look set for the chop
The Reserve says small businesses can be charged a whopping three times more in transaction fees than larger merchants.
The hospitality industry warns that menu prices will have to rise if businesses can no longer recover the cost of debit card payments from customers, saying a coffee that now costs $5.08 with a card surcharge might rise to $5.50.
“Of course it will be inflationary,” said Wes Lambert, chief executive of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association. “Removing a debit surcharge will translate directly to the bottom line. And to mitigate this drop in profit, we’ll see a sharp increase in prices much greater than 8¢ that we currently pay on a cup of coffee. We’ll be rounding that [price rise] to 10¢, 20¢ or even 50¢.”